Farm and home cook book and housekeeper's assistant

Buy any desired quantity of pressed horehound at the drug store, cut off a piece about 1 inch square, and steep 1 minute in 2 cups boiling water, then strain through a double cheese cloth, add 3 cups sugar and ^^ teasp cream of tartar, and boil until it will brittle, then pour on a buttered plate, and before it hardens, mark with a knife in small squares. Chocolate or Nut Caramels Put 2^/^ tablesp butter in a kettle over the fire, and when melted add 2 cups molasses, 1 cup brown sugar, and i/^ cup milk. Stir until sugar is dissolved, let come to the boiling point, then add 2 or 3 squares bitter chocolate, and stir until it is melted. Boil until, when a little is dropped in cold water, it can be shaped into a soft, firm ball, between the :fingers, then remove from fire, add 1 teasp vanilla, pour on a buttered plate, and when cool, mark in inch squares v/ith a sharp knife. To make nut caramels, add to the above 1 lb English walnuts, chopped fine, or V2 lb blanched almonds, chopped, or any other nut meats. Cocoanut Candy Put 2 teasp butter in a granite-ware saucepan, and when melted add 1 V2 cups sugar and 1 cup milk, and stir until sugar is dissolved. Boil 12 minutes after it begins to boil, then remove from fire and add V2 teasp vanilla and i/4 cup grated or shredded cocoanut, and beat until creamy, then pour on a buttered plate, cool, and mark in squares with a sharp knife. Any nut meats may be used instead of cocoanut. Table Equipment and Etiquette In this chapter no attempts are made to deal with knotty problems of formal dining etiquette, or to suggest elaborate functions which the average farm housewife, minus hired help, would be unable to carry out. There are books a plenty on such subjects, and anyone who can afford time and money to live or entertain in lavish and formal style can afford to buy such books, and need not turn to this humble little volume for the desired information. But the endeavor is, rather, to point out the "little things" pertaining to refinement that are so easily overlooked, unless we take time to think and train ourselves to an everyday observance of them, to the end that good manners may become a part of us, so to speak, and enable us to ''hold our own" in any society, without awkwardness or embarrassment. In this, as in all other accomplishments, ease comes with constant practice. The Dining Room It is a mistake to clutter up any room in the house with an odd assortment of dust collecting things that serve neither for use nor ornament, and this applies with emphasis to the dining room, which should he plainly furnished with such necessary articles as one can afford, and be an altogether bright and cheerful looking room. Red is a favorite color for dining room paper, with yellow and lively greens as close seconds. Pictures always show off best against rather plain papers, and the pictures themselves had far better be few and good, than many and poor or inappropriate. All the appointments of a dining room should radiate brightness and cheerfulness. That everything should be immaculately clean goes without saying, and another most important point, too often neglected, is the ventilation. Fresh air, and plenty of it, is an absolute necessity and will do much toward promoting digestion and good humor. Let the housewife not forget that